If the weather forecast holds true, the next several days of fishing should be excellent at Irvine Lake, according to Jimmy Getty at the Pro Shop. The last couple of days have been about average", observed Getty. "The low pressure front that is due to come through should really make the fish want to bite. We really stocked a lot of big trout last week, and most of them are still in the lake."

Anglers fishing bait have caught fish on Power Mouse combinations made with chartreuse and white colors, along with Gulp! Trout Dough in the same colors, and also inflated nightcrawlers.

Trollers have scored best using firetiger or bleeding hot olive-color Rapala Countdown CD03's and CD05s, and Rapala X-Rap XR06's in chartreuse/red or orange/gold. The X-Raps work best when fished with frequent jerks of the rod tip to give it erratic action, all the while trolling in a zig-zag pattern instead of a straight line.

Casting with dropshot and splitshot-rigged Power Worms and Atomic Teasers is also productive as long as the angler sticks with 2-pound test mono. This presents a slight problem when encountering the biggest trout in excess of 10 pounds, but is an excellent ticket to limiting out.

Most of the fish filling the stringers are rainbows in the 1 to 5-pound class, with a scattering of better 6 to 10-plus pounders seen every day. A few exotic brook trout and brown trout are also spicing things up, with those species preferring nightcrawlers.

Good trout catches were reported from the west shore, Trout Island, Santiago Flats, near the docks and near the dam.

Families with children age 12 and under nailed good numbers of trout in the Kids Lagoon, and the Lagoon will be re-stocked this week. No catches of catfish or bass were reported, but some tight-lipped bass anglers were seen fishing very hard on a few days this week.

Outstanding catches of the week at Irvine Lake included: Daniel Han of Riverside, 14-12 rainbow trout on a trolled Rapala at mid-lake Greg Bennett of Long Beach, 12-10 rainbow trout on a Rapala at Trout Island Dan Fowler of Riverside, 9-2 rainbow trout on Power Bait at the west shore Oscar Nare of Santa Ana, 8-12 rainbow trout on Power Bait at the west shore Chris Edwards of Tustin, 8-10 rainbow trout on nightcrawlers at the flats Todd Thorgeson of Orange, 8-2 rainbow trout on a Power Worm at the west shore Rob Forrest of Fountain Valley, 4-14 book trout on a nightcrawler at the docks